


you can't see the covers of an open book

by alfredolover119



Series: shipmas 2019 [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Boys Kissing, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy is a Good Parent, Fluff, Friendship, Getting Together, Gift Giving, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Harry Potter is a Little Shit, Hogwarts Sixth Year, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:14:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21715165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alfredolover119/pseuds/alfredolover119
Summary: An easy lie about extra studying time was all that was necessary for Scorpius to stay at Hogwarts with Al. Scorpius supposed he could have told the truth, but things tend to get a bit awkward when you tell your best friend, "Yeah, I'm skiving off of Christmas with my widowed father because I can't stand the thought of not seeing you for three weeks." It might come across wrong, which would actually mean coming off right in Scorpius's situation.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy & Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Series: shipmas 2019 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558579
Comments: 8
Kudos: 114





	you can't see the covers of an open book

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 of Shipmas 2019! This took me longer than it should have, but I finished it nonetheless. Today's prompt was, "I know you didn't just stay at hogwarts for the Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers."
> 
> Enjoy!

Scorpius always told his dad things. The first person he told about his “crush” on Rose was his dad. A couple years later, the first person he came out to was his dad. Then, when his feelings for Al started to become.. evident, the first person he told was his dad. His dad always knew what to say, and he didn’t pry further than Scorpius felt comfortable with. 

The only thing he had trouble telling his dad was that he would not be home for Christmas this year. His dad did not take it badly, though, simply responding with perfect penmanship that he would be happy to see his son at Easter, supposing he came home then. 

Scorpius sighed as he folded the letter back up. Had he made a mistake staying? It would be the first Christmas he hadn't spent with his dad since Astoria died, and he knew Draco got depressed easily when alone. His mom had always loved Christmas, decorations everywhere. He knew, however, that his dad wouldn't have wanted him to think like that. He would just want him to enjoy himself.

Enjoy himself he did.

It really started when school first ended for Christmas. Scorpius had intended on going home, really. At least until Albus said he was staying over the holiday. Something about not wanting to miss Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers. Scorpius was fairly certain that wasn't the reason, but who was he to judge?

An easy lie about extra studying time was all that was necessary for Scorpius to stay at Hogwarts with Al. Scorpius supposed he _could_ have told the truth, but things tend to get a bit awkward when you tell your best friend, "Yeah, I'm skiving off of Christmas with my widowed father because I can't stand the thought of not seeing you for three weeks." It might come across wrong, which would actually mean coming off _right_ in Scorpius's situation. 

Onward the two boys went into Christmas vacation, though. Snowball fights, walks around the castle, Hogsmeade, and not much studying. That's how they filled their days leading up to Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, they spent the day flying. Albus was still very hesitant about flying. He had improved greatly since he first started, so Scorpius didn't really understand the hesitation. Still, he tried his best to reassure Albus whenever possible and made sure to stay near him while in the air.

Scorpius, though he was never bad, was now an excellent flyer. He had made the Quidditch team last year as Keeper, and it had improved both his social standing and confidence. Everyone suspected he would make captain next year, though he kind of dreaded it. NEWTs year is not the year for that.

After flying all day, they were both quite tired. They headed straight for bed after dinner. They were the only two left in their dorm. Scorpius stared at the ceiling while lying on his bed, waiting for Albus to get done in the bathroom. He must've dozed off for a moment, because when he opened his eyes, Albus was standing in the doorway to the bathroom, light shining out around him. He was staring at Scorpius, and at this point Scorpius was staring back. 

Albus cleared his throat. "I'm done." He walked over to his bed, appearing to be thinking over closing his drapes. He decided against it. 

Scorpius quickly gathered himself and went into the bathroom. _Get ahold of yourself. Normal people don't randomly stare at their best friends._ He splashed some water on his face and tried to remember what he was doing.

When he was done, he took a deep breath before practically running to his bed. He thought it would help him not look at Al, but all it did was make him look like an idiot when he almost tripped.

Once he was finally in his bed, he tried to go to sleep. The only issue was when he turned on his side, he was staring right at Al, and Al was staring back. They had fallen asleep like this before, but tonight felt.. different. They were alone in the room. Anything could happen, really.

Scorpius felt his face redden. He _begged_ his mind to stop trailing down that path of thoughts. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine anything that didn't involve Al.

"Scorpius?"

His eyes snapped wide open, making eye contact yet again with Albus. He looked thoughtful, which worried Scorpius to no ends. Albus only looked like that when he figured something out.

"Yeah?" His voice cracked.

"You haven't done a single bit of studying since we've been on break. That's weird for you normally, but especially since you said that's why you were staying."

Scorpius bit his lip. He could either tell the truth or tell another lie. He wasn't given the chance to do either.

"I know you lied, but why? You can tell me anything, Scorpius. We're best friends." Albus looked slightly hurt, and Scorpius felt a bit bad. However, he was a Slytherin.

"And you think I believed that rubbish you told me? I know you didn't stay at Hogwarts for the Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers," Scorpius tried to point the attention off of himself, which was difficult since there were only two of them in the conversation.

"If I tell you why I lied, will you tell me why you lied?" Albus tried.

Scorpius considered the offer for a moment. If he said no, it would hurt Albus and possibly their friendship.

"Fine." He sat up in his bed and lit a lamp. Albus mirrored him. 

Albus was fiddling with his thumbs and refused to make eye contact with Scorpius. The tips of his ears were pink. "I asked my dad if we could invite you and your dad to Christmas with us this year- and I know that it's kind of stupid because our dads have never really gotten along and I don't even know if you would have wanted to come, but it doesn't matter because my dad said he didn't think it was a good idea."

Scorpius opened his mouth several times to speak, but Albus kept going.

"So, I told him I wouldn't come home for Christmas if he was going to have that attitude. Your family has been nothing but nice to me, and you feel more like family than my actual family ever has." Albus's ears were fully red at this point.

Scorpius was touched, to say the least. That was quite possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him. He stared at Albus for a moment.

"Al, that is incredibly touching and I feel incredibly spurred to say something sappy right now, but I am trying really hard not to." He scratched the back of his neck, still looking at Albus.

Albus met his eyes. "Say it."

So he did. "I stayed at Hogwarts this Christmas because I didn't think I could go three weeks without seeing you. You're my best friend and I don't think I could live without you at this point. Is that sappy enough?" He picked at a thread on his sheets.

He was so focused on not looking at Al after this confession that he didn't notice him coming over to tackle him with a hug. Though surprised, he immediately hugged back.

"We're both idiots," Albus said into his neck. It took everything in him not to squirm a bit.

"Speak for yourself, I would prefer to be known as a nitwit."

Albus pulled back, a bit too soon in Scorpius's opinion, and looked Scorpius in the eye. "We really need to get better at communication, though."

"You're right. Got anything else I need to know?" He said with a _wink._

_That_ was a part of Scorpius's personality he did not know he had. He was horrified and was about to apologize when Albus burst into laughter. He smacked him in the head with a pillow and collapsed back on the bed. 

Scorpius smacked back and soon they were in a full-blown pillow fight. After about twenty minutes, they both gave up, lying down on Scorpius's bed next to each other to catch their breaths.

Scorpius assumed Albus would go back to his bed, but after a minute or so he looked over to see Albus was actually asleep. On Scorpius's bed. It wasn't like they hadn't slept in the same bed together, they had been best friends for six years after all. Tonight, however, Scorpius wasn't sure what to make of it. He supposed there wasn't actually anything to make of it. 

With that, he pushed the cover back over Albus, got under it himself, and went to sleep.

* * *

One would expect to feel awkward after waking up cuddling their best friend, but Scorpius never did. He was awake for maybe a second before Albus began rambling.

"I would have woken you, but you just looked so comfortable! I am sorry if that's weird but it's Christmas and I just want you to be happy today and you look so happy and carefree when you're sleeping so I just couldn't wake you up. Well- I could have, I guess, but that would defeat the purpose of me trying to make your Christmas as good as possible since you chose to stay here because of me, and I would feel really guilty if you had a bad Christmas." He stopped to take a breath. Scorpius used the opportunity to actually take in what was happening. His head was on Albus's chest, as if he were a pillow. Scorpius supposed he _was_ rather glad that Albus had not moved.

"So I just hope this isn't awkward and-"

"Albus."

"I know it's kind of weird but it is pretty comfortable-

"Albus."

"Especially since it's you-"

" _Albus_! It's okay! Really. Thank you for not waking me up." Scorpius scooched off of Albus and sat up.

"It's really not a big deal."

Albus let out a sigh of relief and seemed to let go of the tension that was causing him to freak out so much.

"In that case," Albus stood up and walked to dig around in his nightstand. Once he found it, he threw a small package to Scorpius. "Merry Christmas, git." 

Scorpius simply held it for a moment and stared at it before processing that it was, in fact, Christmas and people got each other gifts on Christmas. This was normal.

Once gathering his senses, he went to his trunk and found Albus's present. It wasn't much, but he hoped it would mean a lot to Al.

The two boys made eye contact and silently agreed to open them simultaneously. Scorpius carefully unwrapped the paper on his, while Al went for a much more _tactical_ approach.

"Scorpius! You didn't have to do that." Scorpius had gifted him a professional cauldron maintenance set, complete with fresh stain for the outside and a self-cleaning rag, along with a booklet of fun potion recipes they wouldn't learn how to make in class.

Scorpius shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal, I just wanted to get you something you could use in your future profession." Albus's cheeks turned a bit pink. As far as Scorpius was aware, he was the only person who had been told about Albus's career plans. Scorpius didn't really understand why Albus was so embarrassed about it, but Albus would be Albus, he supposed.

Scorpius peaked inside his present. It appeared to be a jewelry box. He sent a look at Albus, who raised his eyebrows in anticipation. Scorpius snapped the top of the box open and nearly dropped it. It was two things. A muggle wristwatch and.. a friendship bracelet?

He grinned at Albus. "Albus, you really know how to one-up someone, huh?" Albus chuckled lightly and came to sit next to Scorpius.

"I was just planning on getting you the watch, I know how you like muggle things, but… I don't know. The bracelet just seemed fitting. I made one for me, too." He shrugged.

Scorpius must have misheard. "You _made_ this?" he asked incredulously. Albus's whole face was red-tinted. He nodded.

Scorpius turned and hugged Albus tightly, Albus's arms finding their way around Scorpius as well. "You're the best friend I could ever ask for. I don't know what I would do without you," Scorpius mumbled into Albus's hair. 

Albus loosened his hold on Scorpius and scooched back a little. His eyes held a strange emotion, and his smile seemed off. Scorpius was confused.

"You're my best friend, too, Scor." They made eye contact and Scorpius feared he would physically swoon. Green eyes coming closer, closer, closed.. 

_Knock._

The boys jumped apart, Albus actually nearly falling off the bed. Scorpius looked at the window and saw that the giant squid had come for a visit right at the _perfect_ moment. Scorpius shook himself and glanced at Al, who was refusing to meet his eyes. 

Scorpius would have to have a talk with the squid about this later. 

He glanced down at his hands and noticed that he was still holding the friendship bracelet. He looked at Al, who was still determinedly not looking at Scorpius. "Can you tie this on me?" 

Albus jumped and accidentally made eye contact with Scorpius for a half-second. He jerked his head in a nod, which in any other circumstance could have been mistaken as him merely trying to get a gnat to leave him alone. 

He returned to Scorpius's side, leaving a clear six inches between them. Scorpius sighed, presuming he had misread the situation earlier. Nonetheless, he held out his left arm for Albus to tie the bracelet onto. Albus's movements were jerky and overall very un-Albuslike. 

He finished quickly and immediately stood up and started walking away. 

"Albus?" Scorpius asked evenly.

Albus turned, only having made it about four steps. He took a deep breath. "Yes, Scorpius?"

"Do you need help with your bracelet?" Scorpius questioned. Scorpius, however, was a Slytherin and- consciously or, more likely, unconsciously- had an alternative motive.

"I guess so." He went to get his and returned shortly to Scorpius's bed. Scorpius took Albus's right hand gently and began carefully, slowly tying it to Albus. Albus tried not to look too closely at Scorpius, but he ultimately failed. 

"Scorpius." It was barely louder than a breath, but Scorpius looked up as if it was a shout. Albus's pupils were dilated and Scorpius promptly dropped Albus's arm. 

This time, it was _definitely_ Albus who leaned in. He seemed to have surprised himself when he jumped forwards to kiss Scorpius. It was neither soft nor sweet, because their noses bumped and the angle was wrong, but it was still perfect. Scorpius kissed back fully, bringing his hand to the back of Albus's neck, tilting him to a better angle. Albus's hand grasped Scorpius's bicep and refused to let go, even once they eased out of the kiss.

Both boys were breathing hard, despite having kissed for approximately six seconds. It was six seconds longer than either had ever kissed anyone before, after all. Scorpius sighed happily and grinned. Albus mirrored his expression almost exactly.

"Are these still friendship bracelets?" Scorpius asked dopily.

"Of course. We need some other type of jewelry to signify that we like each other. We do like each other, right?" Albus's mouth moved faster than his brain, and he seemed to short-circuit once he realized what he said.

"I like you. Do you like me?" Scorpius replied cheekily, though his face was still red from excitement.

"I suppose I like you, too." Albus seemed to process what they both had just admitted to before launching himself back on Scorpius, mouths clashing in a lovely fight for dominance which was actually just an epic snogging session. 

When they pulled back this time, Scorpius grinned wider than he'd ever grinned before. Albus's hair was sticking up worse than usual, but his eyes had the most beautiful look in them. Scorpius felt certain he probably looked the same, especially based on the way Albus was looking at him.

"Best Christmas ever?" Scorpius asked teasingly, considering it was still before breakfast. 

"Best Christmas ever," Albus confirmed before leaning in once more for another Christmas kiss.

Best Christmas ever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, let me know with comments and kudos<3 Check me out on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/whatsshakingbanana).


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